Racing is officially underway in 2024 at Hollywood Casino at the Meadows and will continue uninterrupted until April. Live racing will be held on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 12:45 pm through the end of March. Racing will return on a four-day-per-week basis after a brief break during the first week of April. As in 2023, the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association will provide lots of great info to fans and bettors on meadowsharnessracing.com. The website offers the complete 2024 racing schedule, information on how and where to bet, a schedule of upcoming events at the Meadows, free programs for every day of live racing, and more.
Flipping back to 2023 to talk about our yearly leaders, it was business as usual for both Dave Palone and Ron Burke. Palone has led the year-end drivers’ standings for a long time at the Meadows and he once again was at the top of the pile in 2023 with 411 winners. Palone incredibly averaged over two winners per race day through the entire year. He was well clear of Ronnie Wrenn Jr. and his 263 wins that were good for second place in 2023. On the training side of things, Burke was dominant once again with 264 wins at the Meadows in 2023, an average of essentially a winner and a half on each program. Like Palone, Burke had little drama in claiming the title as he was well clear of Dirk Simpson and his 110 that earned him second place. The Meadows saw a nice increase in handle in 2023 and had a very successful Stakes season that culminated in CANNIBAL (Yannick Gingras/Nancy Takter) winning the Delvin Miller Adios Stakes, the signature race of the year at the Meadows.
Regarding this week’s racing action, I’ll be paying attention to the Pick 5 on Thursday, January 18 that starts in Race 9 with a price to include in the sequence and a single to keep the ticket affordable. The price I’ll be looking at comes in the 9th race in the form of #5 SPICY NUGGET. The recent form might not look the sharpest, but he’s been taking on tougher and has been getting some checks in those tries. SPICY NUGGET gets back to a level today where he was a winner when last seen at five starts ago. He draws well and posted ten wins in 2023, so he’s clearly proven that he likes to find the line first.
As for a single in the sequence, I’ll be looking to the 11th race and #6 HOT FLASH KIMMY. She had won three in a row at the Meadows before last week, including two in a row against similar types. HOT FLASH KIMMY had to settle for second last week after cutting the mile most of the way, but overall her form has been very sharp since coming down from Canada last Fall. I’ll be counting on her to rebound in her race this week as she’ll be my single in Thursday’s Pick 5 sequence. Best of luck to everyone betting this week at the Meadows and hopefully, all readers will get off to a winning note at the Meadows in 2024!
